What I Learned and A Recipe

On Tuesday we had our last Bible study for our summer study. As I have mentioned we have been going through Beth Moore's study through the book of Daniel. I so enjoyed being in this study with all of these girls! It was a really tough study but I learned so much. I had no idea that the book of Daniel tied in so much with the book of Revelation. I was so encouraged by Daniel's life. He was so steady in the midst of living in Babylon and surrounded by so much sin. We were encouraged to be Daniel's as we are living in our own Babylon. I pray that I will be consistent in my walk with Christ. I pray that people will see a difference in my life. I am so thankful for the example of Daniel.

Since it was our last night together, we also decided to have dinner together before we started and I made dessert. I had been wanting to try one of the millions of desserts I have seen on Pinterest. I decided to go with mini peanut butter cheesecakes.

Mmm....they turend out so delicious. I did end up changing to regular sized muffin pans and not mini ones. It made exactly 12 regular sized cheesecakes so definitely double it for a bigger get together.

Crust:

1 cup of chocolate cookie crumbs (I used oreos)

2 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1 tbsp. sugar

Cheesecake:

12 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)

1/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup peanut butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk

Dash vanilla extract

Pinch of coarse salt

Ganache:

4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp. unsalted butter (room temperature)

Now, everything turned out great when I made it. I have this tool that I got from pampered chef that you can use to pipe icing and it makes it look so pretty. I have used it many times already. For the ganache, I don't know if I let it thicken a bit too much or should have just put it in a bag instead of my pampered chef tool? It tasted delicious but wouldn't pipe right to look pretty so I ended up just putting chocolate chips on the top. No one seemed to mind but the ganache tasted so great and would have been so pretty!! 

Here is the printable recipe! They really were delicious!

In other news, Brett has started his job and is enjoying it but it will definitely take some getting used to! Not only did he start his job but we did one more "adult" thing this week. Brett bought a new car! Sadly, he had to part ways with his truck. The boy loves his truck so this was not a fun decision but the deal was too good to pass up. Plus, we are going from getting 11 miles to the gallon to 23 miles to the gallon. We really knew it would be smarter in the long run with us getting married and everything. He got a Ford Fusion. He will be driving that right now and we may trade eventually!

So, lots of exciting and scary things happening. It has been a big week for us but it's definitely been good! It's almost Friday people!!

Home Is Whenever I'm With You...

Happy Tuesday....

So precious....

Also, I made these yesterday. Umm...make them. They are good. So good.

Chocolate and Peanut Butter...Delish.

They are Peanut Butter Krispie Bars. Mmmm...so fabulous. I have witnesses.

Here is what you need: 

1 tube of peanut butter cookie dough

4 cups of marshmallows

2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanut butter

1/4 cup butter, cubed

2 cups of Rice Krispies

1/2 cup salted peanuts (I forgot to get them so I didn't use them. I suppose it is optional!)

 First, roll that cookie dough out into a 13x9 casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

I love measuring out all of my ingredients. :) I think it makes me feel like I am on a cooking show.. 

I'm a dork..dang.

My special helper...Thanks Pudge..

When the cookie dough comes out cover it with the marshmallows and put back in the oven for 4-5 minutes...

When the marshmallows come out let them cool. While they are cooling mix the chocolate chips, butter, and peanut butter until smooth.

Once smooth, mix in the rice krispies and peanuts (optional)..

Then cover the marshmallows with the mixture...

I gave it 2 thumbs up! :)

 Final product....

They were heavenly. The only thing I would have done differently was that I would have baked the cookie a little longer at the beginning. I would have wanted it to be a little bit harder and it was pretty soft...Other than that. Fabulous!

Another fabulous thing....I got to spend almost my entire day with this boy. Since his student teaching started I have barely seen him. He is busy these days. I'm trying to be patient since I was almost as busy last semester. :) Even if he did spend the night doing lesson plans I was happy to be with him!

I hope that you got to enjoy the beautiful weather we had today!!

Cupcakes, Cookies, and Canadians

Yesterday, my Canadian sister came over and we spent the day in the kitchen. We talked and laughed and really only made two things! Whoops! 

I found the recipe for Hot Chocolate cupcakes here and had been wanting to make them. 

One tip....do not put too much batter in the cupcake liners. One pan was fine for me and the other, I put a little much and when I took them back out to put the marshmallows on them, they sunk in the middle just a bit. Oh well, live and learn. :)

Bring them out and sprinkle some marshmallows on top....

Put them back in for about 5-7 minutes or until they are slightly brown on the top!

This is what they should look like....if you want cuter pictures, go to the link that I had at the top for where I found the cupcakes. I have this issue where I cook/bake things that taste great but the presentation is not so fab. Again, live and learn. :)

Colleen had her own recipe for gingerbread cookies so that is what she made!

 I helped with this part! :) 

It was so much fun and we made a huge mess. I can get the gingerbread recipe too if anyone wants it! It was a process but they were wonderful! 

That's all I got tonight....P.S. I tried to post this once and ended up deleting the majority of the post....therefore, it is much shorter than it was. I'm tired and had no patience for rewriting the entire blog post. :) Sorry folks!

Baking and Sinning.. :)

Tomorrow is my LAST DAY OF COLLEGE/STUDENT TEACHING! Wow! It flew by! We are having our Christmas party tomorrow which mean I had to do a little baking tonight.....it also means that the kids will be INSANE! I will survive! Anyways, I decided to bake two different things for our party. This first one I got here. They looked so good and I had to try them! 

Brownie covered Oreo. Seriously? That just sounds ridiculous. I mean they are good. Like....G-double O-D...GOOD! But who could think of that? 

The second is a family favorite. We weren't sure what to call them. We put peanut butter cookies in a muffin pan, bake them, pull them out, push a reeses in the middle and sprinkle it with M&M's. Muffin? Cookie? Behold the MOOKIE! My family is ridiculous! 

Anyways, I am certain my students will enjoy them! 

(P.S. Sorry about the iPhone quality pics lately..I have a nice camera and could probably make these treats look better...but hey, the iPhone is handy...)

So tonight I was reading a passage of Scripture that I have read so many times. In 1 John 2:15-17 it says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyones loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world--the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does--comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

Let me just confess, I love the world. I don't want to love the world but often, I do. For example, this week my parents downgraded our TV package. Basically, we really don't watch TV that much anyways but we definitely didn't need all the channels we had and we were paying too much for something we barely watched. BUT....let me say, I LOVE me some Gilmore Girls. I want to be Lorelai Gilmore. Well, apparently abc family did not make the cut of channels we now get. I'm gonna be straight up....I have seen every Gilmore Girl episode quite possibly 3 times each. I still enjoy reruns. Ridiculous? Yes. Waste of time? Probably. Would I still like to watch them? Mhm.. I cannot tell a lie. But, honestly, do I NEED it? No. I have been just fine this week. 

There are so many things in my life that would show that I love the world. I have idols in my life. There are things that I put before the Lord every single day and at the end of the day I am always left thinking....these things are going to burn. Why am I not focused on eternal things? I am selfish. I am a sinner who is saved by some miraculous grace. I am thankful but I do not show it. 

I also have another struggle....I dwell on my sin f.o.r.e.v.e.r. which just equals more sin. Awesome. After I do something I know is wrong, I should confess it and move on. But I really have a hard time with this. I know that God is not keeping score with me but in my human head I think, surely He is sick of me. On Sunday, Jack finished preaching through the book of Genesis. It only took us a little over 2 years to finish it! Well, at the end of Genesis we see the end of Joseph's life. In verses 15-21, Joseph's brothers are so scared that Joseph is going to retaliate and "give them what the deserve" because Jacob has died. Joseph weeps because he has already forgiven them. They dwelt on this and lived in fear for 17 years. His brothers were so focused on themselves that they couldn't see Joseph's forgiveness. I am so like those brothers sometimes. I am constantly dwelling on my sin and waiting for God to "punish" me, that I forget, I was forgiven a long time. All I have to do is confess and move on. 

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death." -Romans 8:1-2

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." -1 John 1:7

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." -Psalm 103:11-12

Jack pointed out that at the beginning of Genesis everything was good. He created this world and it was good. Genesis ends with death and guilt. He explained that something went wrong and that was the fall of humanity. But thankfully, we have the hope that there will be no ability to sin in our new Garden!

I pray that I will stop living for the things of this world, live for the eternal things that last, and stop dwelling on those sins that have already been forgiven.  

Recovery, Resting, and a Recipe

Well, the last week has been nice. After surgery I had lots of time to rest which was great and also frustrating. I don't sit for days at a time very well but I was pretty sore so I was a little more content to do so. I am feeling much better and hoping to even get to play some tennis tomorrow night!

On Thursday I finally felt like getting out a little bit and I guess there is something about sitting and not doing anything for several days that made me have an itch to get back in the kitchen. So...I pretty much cooked dinner on Thursday...Pork chops, mashed potatoes, and english peas. Yum.. Oh, and for dessert.....my mom found a recipe for Ice Cream Sunday 4 Layer Chocolate Cake. Love it. I thought I'd share the recipe because it was oh so good.

You'll need:

-1 box of Devils Food Cake Mix

-1 Small box of instant chocolate pudding mix

-4 eggs

-1/2 cup water

-1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil

-1 heaping cup of vanilla ice cream (or any flavor you choose)

-1/4 cup hot fudge sauce

-Chocolate frosting of choice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, oil, ice cream and hot fudge sauce into an electric mixer. Beat on low then medium for about 1 minute 30 seconds or until well combined and thick. Divide evenly into 4 (9 inch) cake pans that have been generously sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until toothpick comes mostly clean from center. Let cool completely, loosen sides with a plastic knife then remove from pans. Place bottom layer onto a cake stand, spread with your favorite chocolate frosting....repeat until 3 layers are frosted leaving the 4th layer on top. Frost the remaining top sides of cake with frosting. You can also use a vegetable peeler and peel a chocolate bar to get curls and then place the curls on the side. I used chocolate chips because I didn't have a chocolate bar to make curls with and it was great! Enjoy!! It is delicious but crazy rich!

Hope your weekend was good to you!

A Weekend Blogger

Hello! Hello! So...this title is going to be extremely appropriate for the next few weeks. This is unfortunate but I am afraid it is the way it is. I have a few things to share with you. First of all, I hope your Memorial Day weekend was restful. We spent a lot of it by the pool. Brett's family came into town so I got to spend a good bit of time with them. Side note: I had something completely random happen Sunday night. We went to Macaroni Grill to eat and I had spaghetti like I always do! :) Afterwards, I started getting terrible stomach cramps at the top of my stomach. I figured something just didn't settle right after I ate but it didn't feel like an upset stomach. It just felt really like sharp cramps. As we headed back to Brett's the pain got worse and by the time I was in his house, I was in tears. This is so unlike me and I think I scared Brett and his parents. They called my mom and she came and got me. Keep in mind, I am bawling. I took some medicine, drove to the emergency room but decided not to go in, then came home and took some pain medicine. I was able to sleep that night and woke up fine the next morning. Bizarre. What's the verdict: I have gallstones and will have my gallbladder removed at the beginning of July. Happy summer. :) Just kidding...I don't think it will be too bad!

Gosh, what could top that? Oh, I know...an amazing cookie recipe that I tried on Memorial Day that my family LOVED! I got it from Amanda.

They are called Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate Chunk Cookies

I am a huge fan of sweet and salty so it was perfect for me!

Here is what you need:

2 sticks softened butter 3/4 Cup granulated sugar 1 Cup packed light brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 1/2 Tablespoons pure vanilla 1/4 Cup burnt caramel sauce (you can use any caramel sauce here, like Smuckers) 3 3/4 Cup all purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 12 oz bag mini chocolate chips 1 1/2 Cups chopped good quality chocolate

Here is what you do...

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in the eggs and vanilla, and swirl in the caramel sauce until well combined.

Secondly, place the flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl and mix. Slowly add to wet ingredients then add the chocolate chips. Save chunks for later. I mixed the dry ingredients by hand and then added them to the wet ingredients.

Yum!

Third, place a 1/4 cup scoop of cookie dough into muffin top cups.

Fourth, sprinkle a little sea salt onto the cookies

Now it is time to place your chocolate chunks on top!

Then you are ready for the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown on the edges. Also, if I forgot to mention, we baked them in muffin top pans which is what the recipe said but I'm sure you could do it another way.

The result?

The recipe says it makes about 18 cookies but I think we had a few more than that. They are huge and delicious and fairly simple to make! My family ate them all up!

So....what has been keeping me from blogging this week? Well, I mentioned sometime in May that I had applied for a summer enrichment program to get more experience teaching. I am so thankful that I did receive one of the positions and will be teaching 4th grade math. This past week was orientation type stuff, setting up classrooms, planning, and Friday, we had our first day with the kids. It has been such a whirlwind already. I am trying so hard to soak it all up and learn from the good things I do and the mistakes I make. Everything has really gone fairly smooth so far but it is busy busy busy. I felt like I didn't stop this week. My mind has been going 100 miles per hour planning and thinking of new ideas and ways to teach certain things. I feel like I am getting a great experience of what actual teaching will be like. I know it is only a snapshot and not nearly as stressful but it is painting a good picture for me. So, that is what has kept me away and probably will continue to keep me away during the next four weeks. I definitely will try and update on the weekends.

I will say, I would appreciate prayers over the next few weeks. You can pray for my health. I don't want to miss a day of this program and I have already had a couple of....what they call "attacks" with my gallbladder. Basically it is where my stomach hurts really bad and I am in tears. No fun.

Also, pray that I will do my best and remember that everything, including this program, is a privilege that has been given to me by God. I have struggled with thinking I am not prepared enough or good enough to teach this summer. I know that I need to just let go of thinking that I can contribute anything to this program without the help of my Father. I just need to trust Him. You can also pray for each of the precious children that are involved with this program. I know that they need prayers!

Lastly, I have had a struggle this past week with my priorities. I know how important my time with the Lord is and yet, with this work, planning, going to sleep early so that I can wake up early, etc. I have struggled to give the Lord the time that He deserves and that I know I need with Him. Pray that I will prioritize and remember again that I am nothing without Him and that my time with Him is the most precious and valuable time I will have all day.

Okay, I am done rambling. I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! See you in a week, if not before! :)

Sorry....

Hello all! I know..it has been f.o.r.e.v.e.r. I am sorrrrryyy! The week after spring break kept me real busy but today was beautiful and a great end to a crazy week. For now, I will just update you on my spring break, which went by unbelievably fast by the way.

We started off the week in Panama City. It was fun but so so cold. We actually ended up coming home early from that little trip. Fail. But we still had fun!

The only actual day that I was able to be in the sun was that Friday. Oh well...

That last weekend before school started my dear friend Sarah came to Mobile for a wedding. We had so much fun. Sarah was my roommate for two years and has moved now to do her student teaching. I miss her dearly so I was thrilled! Two other friends came over, Brittany and Julie. You can just look at the next pictures and see that we had....lots of fun! It was so great to be with them.

Sweet Jules

Slumber party and of course...we painted nails.. :)

Love you B-Free!

Work it Sarah

That is a scarf on Julie's head....and it was so cute by the way...

Oh..Hey Sam...thanks for being the photographer on our group shots... :)

Typical.

Love. Love. Love. You Girls!

So all in all...a good spring break. I also did a little cooking that last weekend. I made baked ziti and a chocolate chip cheesecake. Both were pretty successful and so good. Just let me know if you want the recipes. I had pictures and was going to walk you through it but obviously time has just gotten away from me. So...let me know. I will try not to be such a blogging slacker this week.

Enjoy your weekend friends!

Back to the Grind

Good Afternoon Friends! I hope you all have had a wonderful weekend! There hasn't been too much going on around here. Thankfully, I have had a few days to just relax. We have had a couple of really beautiful days which have made me long for summer all the more! I am ready for consistent warm weather, the beach, a tan, watermelon, flip-flops, tank tops, pool days, lemonade, summer nights, and no school. Mmm....

Anyways, no more of that talk because it is not summer yet! Brett's parents came into town this weekend. It was great to spend the weekend with them! Yesterday was absolutely beautiful so we took Outlaw, Drew and Brett's dog, to the park to walk. He loved it. We loved it. Last night Brett and I cooked for his family and we watched the Olympics. We made chicken parmesan and it was delicious. For dessert... chocolate-chip cookie dough dessert. I have made this easy dessert probably 30 times. All credit for this goes to my dear friend Katherine and her family. Katherine's mom made this for us all the time when we came over in high school. I have passed the recipe on to many other friends so I suppose I will share.

First, spread a roll of cookie dough on the bottom of a 13x9 dish. Mix one egg, a cup of sugar, and an 8 oz package of cream cheese. Spread this one top of the cookie dough then break another roll into pieces on top. Oven on 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. So easy. So good. Enjoy!

This week is going to be looooong. I don't have classes so I will be with my fourth graders all week! I am excited. I guess I better be considering this is what I will be doing when I graduate! :) I will be teaching two more of my own lesson plans so hopefully they go well! I will be going to bed early and waking up early all week. So...I am relaxing this afternoon.

Before I depart from this fascinating post :) I want to tell you about church this morning. As I have mentioned before, we are going through the book of Genesis. This morning we were in chapter 25 discussing when Jacob and Esau were born. The overall point that Jack started with was that, "Families Can Cause Problems." This is different because so often we think that our families solve problems and make things so much better. If you think about Jacob and Esau, there was conflict from the beginning.

"The babies jostled each other within her, and she said, 'Why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord.' The Lord said to her, 'Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.'" -Genesis 25:21-23

The Lord was telling Rebekah that she was going to have twins and that they were already at odds with one another. Also, normally the birthright is given to the oldest son which we will find out is Esau. The Lord is telling Rebekah that in her sons case this will be opposite. In verses 29-34 Esau comes in to get something to eat. He asks Jacob for some stew and Jacob says he will give him some of Esau will sell him his birthright. Just as the Lord told Rebekah, Esau agrees. Jacob's name means "trickster" which is appropriate. In this situation we see Esau give up a promise from God for instant gratification. He invested greater value in a bowl of stew than in a promise from the Lord! At first I am thinking, this is crazy but then Jack went on to say that so often, we are Esau. We sell the greater things that God has for us for the things of this world....only to be hungry again. Basically, our families are not solutions to our problems. We cannot value our relationships with our friends, parents, children, or anyone else more than our relationship with Christ. A relationship with Christ is the only solution, the only thing that can satisfy us. Have I mentioned I love my church? I love that we study full books of the Bible. I learn so much!

Well, I am off to enjoy the rest of my afternoon before I head back to the grind. Have a relaxing Sunday!

My Guy

Today was a day to celebrate! There were many reasons:

1.) It is now the weekend for me!

2.) I have a light week next week..

3.) Apparently we are getting SNOW tomorrow!!!!

But most importantly.....We got to celebrate the life of this special young man...

Today was Brett's 21st birthday. Although we didn't celebrate until tonight it was still a pretty good day. He had to coach tonight so I decided to surprise him by cooking dinner and having it at his house when he got done. This ended up being just what he needed because sadly, the lady bulldogs lost and ended their season. They really did have a great season and have so much to be proud of!!

So...I am going to give you a couple of recipes...you will be glad you have them! I was going to try to go all fancy and pull a Paula Dean but then I thought....Brett loves this dish....why not cook this? His eyes lit up when he saw what we were having! For dinner we had a simple recipe of jambalya. Attention!! If you are not so good in the kitchen or if you are great...this recipe is so good and so easy!!! It is almost impossible to mess up!

This is what you need:

2 cups of rice, a can of french onion soup, can of beef broth, 8 oz. can of tomato sauce, 1 lb of sausage, and a bunch of green onions

Also...you will need 2-3 lbs of chicken or shrimp (whatever you prefer) and you can throw in a bell pepper which I love but did not add tonight...

You simply put all of these ingredients into a 13x9 dish and cook for an hour and a half with the oven on 350 degrees. I am telling you....it is so good and so easy.

Dessert was so much fun for me to make..... Brett loves those chocolate molten cakes you can get at Chili's so I decided to attempt to make them. I have to say....I did a pretty good job. Brett claims that "it was better than Chili's!" These are slightly more time consuming but pretty easy as well...Here is what you need:

I used these trays for the individual cakes but you could use the giant-sized muffin pans as well. These were a little shallow but ended up working well. All you do is make the cakes as the box directs and bake them...

After they have cooled a bit take a serrated knife and cut a small hole in the top. Do not go all the way through to the bottom. Essentially, you are making a small crater in your cake. :) Take a spoon and slide the excess cake out creating a "crater"

Then take your fudge (already heated in the microwave for about 45 seconds) and fill the hole with the fudge! Stick your cakes in the freezer for at least 2 hours before serving.

Take it out...Pop it in the microwave for about 45 seconds...Stick a scoop of ice cream on there and top it off with the hard chocolate shell! It is delish!

The birthday boy also enjoyed reading his new Bible on his birthday.. haha. Okay just kidding...I mean, he really did get a new study Bible from my parents but he was really just reading Song of Solomon... Don't let him fool you! :)

Then...my gift. He wasn't quite sure what it was......

But I think he was pretty happy....

Hopefully I was able to make his 21st a memorable day! Oh, an in case all of you in Alabama haven't heard...we are apparently getting a little visit tomorrow. How I wish we could wake up to lots of white stuff. I fear it might only be a small amount. Oh well...it was enough to cancel school for my fourth graders tomorrow and they were simply thrilled about it! Everyone bundle up tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Sweet Sweet Boy! You are a blessing in my life!! :)